Twists of Fate
by I'm.The.Tin.Dog
Summary: Scorpius has liked this girl for ages, but she doesn't seem to like him. His best friends, Rose and Al have tried many schemes to set them up. But Rose's feelings for Scor start to change during one of the schemes. And how will Scor react to her feelings?
1. Typical Prologue

**Hello fellow fan fictioners! So I got this idea while I was listening to Avril Lavigne's song sk8ter boi. It's not a one-shot and it's only based loosely on the song. Basically, Scorpius is a bad ass and the girl he likes is really preppy… well you know how the song goes (if you don't you should definitely listen to it. It's pretty good, very catchy). But back to the point, please bear with this chapter. It's going to be a stereotypical prologue chapter about their first day of Hogwarts with Ron's famous line "don't get too friendly" and about their sorting, but from then on they'll be in their sixth year. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, obviously. But I really wish that Scorpius was mine :) Too bad he's not :(. **

It was September 1, 2017. And in the wizarding world this was a very important day, especially for any eleven year olds. Rose Weasley and Albus Severus Potter were two of these excited and nervous children. Rose was handling it better. This could be due to her calm, diplomatic nature, or the fact that she didn't have a twelve year old brother named James Sirius Potter. Al on the other hand did. James wouldn't stop taunting him about potentially being in Slytherin. It seemed to Rose that James was going to drive poor Albus bonkers. Her father, being the oh so considerate man that he was, overlooked her anxiety and proceeded to joke with her Uncle Harry about disinheriting her. Upon hearing that she blushed the trademark Weasley blush and looked away. Her gaze meandered over the various faces in the crowd until they stopped on a blonde haired boy who looked like he was starting his first year too.

Ron looked down at his only daughter and followed her gaze to the blonde boy. The man standing next to the young boy must have been his father; they looked incredibly similar although the boy seemed… Rose didn't know how to put it, 'maybe less pointy?' she thought than the father whose face was all angles. He must have inherited this from his striking mother, but the similarities between the boy and his mum stopped there. The woman, who had her petite hand on the boy's shoulder was blue eyed and had dark brown hair that fell to her waist in a smooth, straight cascade. The child's father swiftly glanced at her family and gave a brief nod which was returned by both Harry and a grudging Ron.

"So that's little Scorpius," Ron muttered to Harry, but Rose caught every word. "Make sure you beat him in every test, Rosie. Thank God you inherited your mother's brains." Her mother rolled her eyes good naturedly before returning to her conversation with Rose's Aunt Ginny.

"Ron, for heaven's sake. Don't try to turn them against each other before they've even started school!"

"You're right, sorry. Don't get too friendly with him, though, Rosie. Granddad Weasley would never forgive you if you married a pureblood." Ah ha! Pureblood, now it all made sense to Rose. The blonde boy with the silvery grey eyes must be a Malfoy. Rose knew all about the Malfoys from her family's recounts of their childhood, but she also heard from her Mum and Uncle Harry that the Malfoys weren't like that anymore, they were trying to reform after the war happened.

Rose shrugged it off, she didn't care what his surname was, or what his family had done in the past, she generally had a fairly easy going manner and wasn't particularly judgmental. The only thing that really got under Rose's skin was being proved wrong. Rose couldn't stand being wrong about anything; it was a good thing that she rarely was wrong; otherwise she'd be furious all the time.

Al, who had also been listening to Ron's words, exchanged a small smirk with Rose. Al, like Rose, held no prejudices about the Malfoy family. In fact, Rose could see the wheels turning in Al's jet black hair covered head, she would bet her new owl, Eowyn (named after a character from one of her favorite muggle books, Lord of the Rings) that Al wanted to befriend Scorpius.

A warning whistle rang through the air and all the children started to make their goodbyes and leapt on the train. Her older cousins said they would save her a seat in their compartment, so she quickly made her way to the train with Al at her side.

Before she could get there though, her father pulled her aside for a moment.

"What is it Dad? I've got to go soon."

"It'll only be a moment Rosie. Now I just wanted to tell you to write to us if you ever need anything, you hear me? And don't listen about what I was saying earlier, I'll be proud of you no matter what house you're in."

"Even if I'm a Slytherin?" She whispered quietly. Ron considered this for a second before replying.

"Yeah, even then." She gave him one last quick hug before jumping onto the scarlet train.

Ron sighed. Hermione intertwined her hand with his as they watched their little girl depart for Hogwarts for the first time.

"Rose, what are we gonna do? I can't find the compartment that James was telling us about?" Rose let out a sigh. Sometimes Al was prone to overreacting. This was something that James never ceased to exploit even though the two brothers were closer than close and could only ever remain mad at each other for mere minutes at a time.

"Relax Al, I'm sure it's around here somewhere. And even if it's a joke, Fred and James usually know when they've gone too far, they'll find us."

"But what if they don't? What if we never find a seat?"

"Then you can sit out here with me," came a voice from behind them. Both Al and Rose turned around to see who had spoken. It was Scorpius Malfoy he was sitting on the floor of the train. He gave them a small smile when he saw them before proceeding to introduce himself.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy. You're Albus Potter no doubt about it. And you," he turned to Rose with a questioning look in his eye, "I can tell you're a Weasley, but I can't tell which one, sorry." He said in a tone totally devoid of any rudeness and superiority. Not like his father at all.

"No problem, I'm Rose. Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." There was a pause before Scorpius opened his mouth again. "Not to impose or anything, but I heard you saying that you were looking for your cousins' compartment. Well, I saw them, they're a few compartments down that way. If you were wondering." Rose beamed at him and Al sighed in relief. The two cousins began to make their way to the compartment when they both spun around yet again.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Al asked Scorpius. Scorpius looked surprised.

"You would really invite me into your compartment?"

"Why not? You need a place to sit and you helped us out. Besides, you're in first year right? Well, we should be friends."

"But I'm a Malfoy. I thought that you guys wouldn't like me." Rose giggled.

"Of course not, who do you think we are? We wouldn't hate you because of old war stories. My family won't hate you either, as long as you're polite. Come on!" Rose told him before offering him a hand to help him up. Scorpius gratefully accepted it and went into the compartment to meet the Weasleys.

Scorpius' first impression of the Weasleys was that there was _a lot_ of red. Second, was that they were loud. Like bring-down-the-house-loud, and there were only nine of them. Victoire was the oldest. She was in her seventh year as a Ravenclaw and the Head Girl, but she was leaving the compartment soon along with Molly a sixth year Hufflepuff prefect and a shoe in for next year's head girl, because they had a prefect meeting. Dominique, Victoire's younger sister was in her fifth year. She had no badge, but that was probably because of all the pranks she had played. But Scorpius found her much more interesting than Molly and Victoire because Dominique- or Dom, as she had insisted- was the star keeper of Gryffindor's Quidditch team. Scorpius was bedazzled by her awesome Quidditch stories because he himself one day wanted to play keeper. Dom's little brother Louis was also on the Quidditch team, he played beater. Louis was a Slytherin fourth year with a very dry sense of humor, Scorpius was a little intimidated by his constant sarcasm for he could never tell if Louis was being sincere or not. Finally, there was the "Golden Trio: Reloaded" as James, Fred and Lucy liked to call themselves. Louis snorted at that, for he maintained that they were more like the marauders. James and Fred were in Gryffindor, and even though Lucy was a Ravenclaw, they were all really close. It became apparent that they idolized Dominique and all of her pranking because they constantly badgered her to approve their pranks for the upcoming year. After listening to a few of the pranks, Scorpius was positive that he did not want to be on the receiving end of any of them.

Rose gave Scorpius a slight nudge in the ribs.

"So what house do you want to be in?" Scorpius ran a pale hand through his blonde locks before he answered her query.

"Honestly, it doesn't really matter to me. Dad and Mum say that they don't care where I go. But I think I'm going to be in Slytherin." He hurried to amend his sentence for fear that the Weasleys would kick him out if he said that. "Uh… that's not what I meant!" Rose shook her head and laughed.

"Did you really think I would care if you wanted to be in Slytherin? Sure, it used to have a bad reputation, but there's nothing wrong with it now. Louis is a Slytherin after all."

"Oh, erm right." He took a bite of his licorice wand and chewed thoughtfully.

"What about you?" He inquired. She didn't hesitate at all before answering.

"Ravenclaw. That's where I'm going, that's where I want to go." He smirked at her.

"You seem confident." She gave him a calm smile.

"I am."

"What about Al?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Ask me what?" Al questioned Scorpius.

"What house?" He asked again.

"Huh, if I could choose I would pick Gryffindor, but James thinks I'm going to Slytherin. But, even that wouldn't be that bad." Al reasoned.

"I hope I'm in the same house as you two. If I'm not, I'll be all alone. At least you two have a family member per house." Scorpius said.

"We can still be friends even if we're not in the same house. We'll still have some classes together." Rose reasoned.

"True, but still, it would be nice to know someone else in my house."

"Definitely," Al said, nodding vigorously.

"Hey you three, look out the window and get your first glimpse of Hogwarts!" James called to them. The three of them rushed over to the window and stared out in awe. The castle was beautiful, tall, elegant and majestic. It also looked warm and inviting, but mysterious at the same time. Rose thought it was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen in her life.

"James, how do we get to the school?" Even though the question was directed at James, Lucy, Rose's favorite cousin besides Al, answered her.

"First years cross the Black Lake in boats, but all the older students go by carriage."

"Oh, what if I fall in?" Lucy laughed.

"Oh Rose, I've never once heard of a student falling into the lake! That's ridiculous!" Rose looked assured by this and went back to staring out the window.

The rest of the trip past in a blur for Al and before he knew it he was standing in line, waiting to be sorted. At least there were bound to be a few names called before his own, that would give him some time to calm down.

First up was Allan, Scott who was sorted into Hufflepuff. Followed by two Ravenclaws named Brookes, Thomas and Crawford, Anthony. Then the first Slytherin, a small brown haired boy named Zachary Duncan. A Gryffindor, Katherine Goode. The Hart triplets who all went to Hufflepuff, Christina, Rachel and Michael. It jumped all the way to 'L' with Clarissa Lewis who was a Ravenclaw and Ashley Lawson another Ravenclaw. Then it was Scorpius' turn.

Scorpius shakily walked up to the stool and put the oversized, tattered hat on his blonde head.

_"Ah, another Malfoy. You are quite intelligent, a Ravenclaw trait, but you seem to have a Slytherin streak in you, like your father. Yes, I am sure." _**"Slytherin!" **The hat bellowed. The Slytherin table clapped loudly and so did all of the Weasleys that Scorpius had met on the train, he smiled quickly before rushing off to his house's table.

"Penhallow, Matthew" A Gryffindor was followed by his cousin, Charlotte Penhallow who went into the same house. Then it was Al's turn.

Al knew that his face probably matched his green eyes right now. He felt like he was going to be sick. The hat had barely touched his head before it called out his house. Al was a little disappointed, not in his house, but that the hat hadn't talked to him like it did to the others. "**Slytherin!" **Al saw his entire family clapping, even James- who gave him a wide smile free of mockery, before he went to sit down next to Scorpius who was also grinning.

Tiffany Sinclair and Keith Tyson were sorted into Gryffindor while Scorpius talked to Al.

"Do you reckon that Rose will be in Slytherin with us?"

"Doubt it, she's had her heart set on Ravenclaw, and to be honest, that's the only house I can picture her in." Scorpius grin dropped a little in disappointment and he turned his attention back to the sorting. A first year girl, Nadia Van Statten had just joined their table. So did Leslie Vine. Then Christopher Watson went into Gryffindor. Finally it was Rose's turn. The hat sat on her head for mere moments before declaring her a Ravenclaw. Rose beamed and skipped off to join Lucy and Victoire. After Rose there was only one name left to be called. David White, who was a Hufflepuff.

Rose gave the two boys a small wave before jumping into conversation with the other two first year girls in her house, Clarissa (Clary) Lewis and Ashley Lawson. Both seemed very friendly.

Scorpius and Al struck up conversation with their other house mates. Scorpius already knew that he didn't like Nadia Van Statten, she was a "family friend" that Lucius-his hated grandfather- imposed upon the family, much to Draco and Scorpius' displeasure. But all the others seemed okay. Besides Al, he really liked Leslie Vine. She was hilarious. Zach was a little quiet, but he too seemed alright.

The feast was wonderful, the food was even more spectacular than his mother's meals. He would have to tell his father about all this later. And about all his new friends. It all seemed that it was over too quickly.

"Alright first years," called Tricia Patton, a very cool fifth year prefect, "follow me if you want to see your dorm room!" All of the first years excitedly exited the table and followed Tricia's short black ponytail all the way to the dungeons. While walking out of the great hall, Scorpius accidently bumped into a petite blonde girl that he recognized from the sorting. Tiffany Sinclair, maybe? Yes that was her name.

"Oops, sorry, my bad. I didn't see you," Scorpius said quickly. Bloody hell he was so clumsy! The Gryffindor girl's green eyes met his and she smiled. Perfect white teeth.

"Oh it's no problem. I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy. You're Tiffany right?" Tiffany nodded, but the smile had slipped from her face when she heard his name.

"Oh, well I have to go now. See you around," she said a little coolly, before she was swept up by the other two Gryffindor girls, Katherine Goode and Charlotte Penhallow. Scorpius was a little bewildered. Was it something he said? Then he sighed. Of course, it was his surname, back to haunt him. At least it didn't bother his other friends. It really was a shame though, she was really pretty. Then he realized that he needed to get to the Slytherin common room. He glimpsed Tricia's curly black ponytail and he darted after it.

Al got there first, he wrenched open the door and rushed in, claiming the middle bed. Scorpius took the one on Al's right and Zach took the one on the left.

"Wow! This is excellent!" Zach exclaimed and started jumping on the bed. Al and Scorpius laughed and joined in.

An hour later Scorpius' stuff was all sorted away and he was lying down in his pajamas. Both Al and Zach had fallen asleep quickly, but Scorpius was still processing how wonderful the whole day had been. He had a lot to tell his father in the morning! His last thought was of the pretty blonde girl that he had run into. He would have to apologize to her again tomorrow. 

**Worth continuing? I certainly hope so! Reviews make my day! So please review and tell me what you think and if what you want to see happen in the upcoming chapters!**


	2. Schemes and Sweet Sixteens

**I'm so proud of myself for updating so quickly! Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed/favorited! They really make my day :). This chapter starts in the summer before sixth year. Hope you like it! See chapter one for disclaimer. **

Rose Weasley couldn't believe it. Scorpius Malfoy, her best friend outside her family, was missing her Sweet Sixteen. She heaved a great sigh and read the very brief letter from him again.

_Rose,_

_I'm really sorry, but I won't be able to go to your Sweet Sixteen. I can't tell you why over owl, but if you're free at eight o'clock tonight we can talk by floo, okay? I'll be in your library's fireplace, it's more private there. I'll bring you your birthday present on the first day of school. Hope you have a really great birthday. _

_-Scorpius_

Rose knew that he would have a good reason because Scorpius would only miss her special birthday if there was something extremely important going on. But she couldn't help but feel a little angry at him.

She glanced down at the silver watch that decorated her tiny wrist and fought the urge to stomp her foot in frustration. It was eight thirty and Scorpius' blonde head still hadn't made its way into the Weasley's fireplace. The boy was missing her birthday and to top it all off, he was half an hour late. He better have a fucking good reason for all of this.

To distract herself from her angry thoughts she looked over her guest list one more time. The only person who wasn't attending was Scorp. But all her cousins (including Teddy) and everyone in her year were coming (even though she wasn't particularly fond of Katherine Goode or Nadia Van Statten). The Scamander twins were coming too. They were a year below Rose, but she was still close friends with the boys. Stephanie Longbottom, this year's Gryffindor head girl was also attending. In total, 33 people were coming. Rose had plans to bring all of her guests to the beach for her birthday. With a barbeque, dancing and of course swimming. This was why Rose loved having her birthday in the summer because the weather was always so wonderful. Her birthday was next Saturday, August 21st to be precise. But it wasn't going to be the same without Scorpius; he had been at all her birthdays since he had met her in their first year. It wasn't fair! He had been at Al's Sweet Sixteen the past July 18th so why not hers?

"Hey Rose, are you there? It's me," Scorpius' voice resonated throughout the cozy library. Rose jumped in surprise before turning around to face her best friend whose head was now peeking out of her fireplace.

"Yeah I'm here. So what's up? What's so important that you couldn't write me or come to my party?"

"Look Rose, I can explain… My grandfather Lucius just died and I have to go to his funeral." Rose was shocked, she was not expecting that.

"Oh Scorpius I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, you know that my family never liked Lucius, even Grandma Cissy avoided him, but I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you. We're keeping it quiet because we don't want old prejudices to come back up again. You understand. And I'm really sorry that I can't be at your party. I'd rather be at your birthday, but you know how it is. I mean, he was still my grandfather even if I didn't like him."

"It's okay Scorpius, it's fine. You should be at his funeral. But you're going to miss hanging out with Tiffany Sinclair." Rose finished teasingly. Scorpius' pale cheeks colored a bit. He had been in love with Tiffany ever since their first year. Rose and Albus were shocked that the two had never gotten together. Scorpius insisted that it wasn't that easy. He had never dated a Gryffindor, and Tiffany's parents were stuck in the past. As displayed on their first day of school, Tiffany had inherited some of her parent's prejudice ideas. But the two had constructed a fragile camaraderie throughout the years. But it wouldn't be enough, which was why Rose and Al had resorted to schemes to try and bring them together. None of them had worked, but they hadn't failed either per se. Their plans definitely helped Scorpius and Tiffany become friendlier, but Scorpius still didn't feel comfortable asking her out. Al joked that if he could date Violet Everson (an intimidating girl who had graduated last year), then he could date anyone, but Scorpius remained adamant about the matter.

"You invited Tiffany?"

"Of course, she's my friend. Well, we're friendly. And I invited everyone in our year, even Nadia and Katherine," said Rose, making a face.

"Why in the world would you invite Nadia Van Statten? She's bloody annoying!"

"I know! But Katherine Goode is so much worse! Nadia is just a stupid airhead, but Katherine is actually a bitch!"

"I know you hate her Rose, but she is Tiffany's best friend. She can't be that bad."

"Yes she can be Scorp! She hooked up with my ex boyfriend behind my back while we were still dating!" Scorpius looked shocked at the words that had tumbled out of her mouth. She had never told him that before.

"You said that you broke up with Jack, I never knew that he cheated on you! Why didn't I know about this?" Scorpius asked her, furious at Jack and hurt for not being told.

"Well, it was embarrassing! And you, who have no trouble with dating, would have laughed at me! You've had five "real" girlfriends and I've only had one! A boyfriend that is, not a girlfriend." Scorpius rolled his grey eyes at her.

"I wouldn't have laughed at you, Rose. Come on, do you really think I would do that? It must really suck that he's the Ravenclaw head boy this year, doesn't it?"

"Nah, it's not that bad. Stephanie will put him in his place." She said smiling. Scorpius was thankful that the smile reached her chocolate eyes. She claimed that she had been the one to dump Jack Hamilton, which had happened last year after they had been in a relationship for four months. Rose had taken the break up pretty hard, but if she was able to joke about it, he knew things would be okay, and it explained her grudge against Katherine.

"Scorpius, have you finished packing yet? I want your school trunk packed before the funeral." Astoria Malfoy's melodic voice rang throughout the room. Scorpius stifled a groan.

"No Mum, give me a minute."

"No Scorpius. Now!" Scorpius huffed in frustration at his Mum.

"I've got to go Rose, see you in a week or so. And happy birthday."

"Thanks Scorp. See you on the Hogwarts express." And with that Scorpius' face vanished out of the fireplace.

"Was that Scorpius, darling?" Her mother asked her. Rose nodded.

"He can't come to my party, his grandfather died."

"I'd wager that he's not too upset about it though."

"You would win the wager. But he still feels obligated to attend Lucius' funeral."

"That's what I would expect of Scorpius. He's a good kid, Rosie." Ron Weasley interjected. Rose grinned at him. She was glad that he didn't have any prejudices like Tiffany Sinclair's family. However, he wouldn't be saying that Scorpius was a 'good kid' if he knew about their behavior in school. Scorpius and Al got into so much trouble; they were well on their way to setting a new school detention record along with Fred and James, their other partners in crime. But aside from that, Scorpius was still smart and that was how Scorpius managed to secure the title of Slytherin prefect. Rose was surprised that Scorpius had gotten onto the prefect squad with her instead of Zach Duncan, a much better behaved Slytherin boy. But, Scorpius was the one with the brains. It was _almost_ challenging for Rose to follow her Dad's words and "beat him at every test" but she managed to every time, much to the chagrin of Scorpius, unless they tied.

Everything was perfect. The food was top notch, the music was pounding, everyone was smiling and having a good time. But Rose wasn't. It was her birthday and she felt no different. Today was supposed to be special, but to Rose it just felt average. She wished Scorpius was here. He'd make it fun. Speaking of Scorpius…Rose had just spotted Tiffany Sinclair chatting with one of her Gryffindor friends, Charlotte Penhallow. Rose genuinely liked Charlotte. She had a sweet looking face that matched her personality. Her big blue eyes made her look perpetually happy. Charlotte was the least like the other two girls in her clique: Tiffany and Katherine. In Rose's opinion, Katherine was the epitome of a stuck up bitch. Tiffany wasn't so bad. She was only a bit spoilt, but otherwise, quite amiable. Rose had been her partner for a charms assignment last year and the two had gotten along well. Rose walked over to the two girls.

"Oh, hello Rose! This is a wonderful party! Thanks so much for inviting me." Charlotte exclaimed. Tiffany gave Rose a small smile.

"So Rose how are you? I haven't talked to you much since charms."

"I guess I've been doing okay. What about you? Didn't you just split up with Christopher Watson?"

"I did, he was just so clingy. The only problem with that is now I've dated all the Gryffindor boys in our year and the year above! I'm going to have to start dating fifth years!" Charlotte giggled at that, but Rose merely smiled.

"Why do you only date Gryffindors?"

"My parents would prefer that I date Gryffindors, so I do. My entire family has been in Gryffindor since the time Hogwarts was founded. They don't want me to break the tradition."

"I believe that Scorp's family is the same. Endless line of Slytherins. But, I could see Scorpius being a Ravenclaw if he wasn't so interested in pranking."

"Why isn't he here? He's your best friend right? You'd think he'd be at your party."

"He was going to come, but he had family commitments, so-"

"Oh, I was hoping to see him at your party. He's pretty cool for a Slytherin and he has more charm than Professor Flitwick!" The girls giggled at Tiffany's corny pun. Rose smiled in relief. Maybe, just maybe Tiffany liked Scorpius too. Then she and Al could finally get those two to go out. Rose excused herself to seek out Al.

"Hey Rose, having fun?" It was Lucy, one of her favorite cousins and fellow Ravenclaw.

"It's pretty good I guess. But I thought that my Sweet Sixteen would be more than just another party you know?"

"Rose, it's a great party! I know that everyone else is having a blast. You should be too." Rose smiled at Lucy.

"Yeah, I'm not being any fun am I?"

"That can be remedied!" And with that, Lucy dragged her off to the makeshift dance floor.

All in all, Rose considered her party to be a success. Everyone complimented her on a great party and all her guests left grinning. Sure it wasn't legendary like Dominique's Sweet Sixteen had been, but Rose was extremely happy about it. Especially since she ended up having a really good time after Lucy had whisked her away. And to top it all off, she had gotten a letter from Scorpius on the night after the party that wished her a happy birthday once again.

Rose woke up a few days later, ready for her sixth year to start and to see her friends again. She ran a brush through her flaming red curls and squeezed a dollop of sleakeazy's hair potion to tame the frizz a bit. Out of habit, she almost put on her school uniform, she had come close to doing that all summer. But she remembered at the last minute and threw on some dark, ripped jeans, a blue tank top and a red jacket that clashed horribly with her red curls.

"Rose it's 10 o'clock! It takes forty five minutes to get to the station so hurry up, because we don't want to be late!" Rose rolled her brown eyes.

"Relax Hugo, don't get your wand in a knot. You're starting to sound like Lily."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Well that's because it is! She's bloody annoying and she's so bossy. I don't know how you and Roxy are friends with her. None of the rest of us can stand her, not even Al!"

"She's not that bad."

"Whatever Hugo."

"Stop bickering kids, it's time to go." Hermione's clear voice reverberated through the house. Rose grabbed her trunk and Eowyn, her Barn owl while Hugo struggled to convince his noisy Screech owl, Sherlock, to get back in his cage.

They arrived at the train station ten minutes before departure leaving Rose very little time to catch up with her best friends from her house, Clary Lewis and Ashley Lawson. The two girls were excited to see Rose and began exchanging summer stories. Clary had gone to New York City for two weeks to visit her Dad (her parents had been divorced for five years) while Ashley had gone to France with her other friend, a Slytherin in their year named Leslie Vine. Besides her Sweet Sixteen, Rose had experienced a very boring summer. With only one visit from Clary and Ashley and a couple of visits from Scorp. And then she saw him.

"Hey Scorp!"

"Rose!"

"Good to see you. How was the er…it?"

"It was boring. I wish I had gone to your birthday instead. Oh! I almost forgot. Here's your present." Rose eagerly took the blue wrapped rectangle from Scorpius and proceeded to tear off the paper. Inside was a simple black box. Rose pulled off the lid, expecting jewelry, but when she opened it, she found something much better.

"Oh my Merlin! You got me tickets to The Weird Sisters Finally Concert! How did you even find these? They must have cost a for-. Thank you so much! There's three, are they for you, me and Al?"

"I'm glad you like them! I know they're your favorite band, so I figured I couldn't go wrong with tickets to their last concert. It's so hard to shop for you, you know. And they can be used for whomever, I mean they are yours. So they can be for you, me and Al or you, Clary and Ashley if you want."

"Scorp, you're the best friend I could ever have. You know that right?"

"Course I do. I'm just the best at everything."

"Wow, you're feeling modest today." Scorpius' signature Malfoy smirk graced his face for a second before he changed the topic.

"Al, told me about your conversation with Tiffany. What are your schemes for this year?"

"Going behind enemy lines, so to speak. Al and I reckon that if I got to know Tiffany more I could warm her up to the idea of dating you. You know how she is about only dating Gryffindors, well I figure that all it will take is a little coaxing done by yours truly. And then poof! You're together!" Once again, Scorpius couldn't keep the smirk off his handsome face.

"Come on you two; let's go find a compartment before all those bratty fourth years steal them all." Al called.

"Bratty fourth years like your little sister Al?" Scorpius questioned jokingly.

"Exactly, now let's go!" Al said grabbing Scorpius by the arm. Rose followed suit. But then she stopped.

"Al, go sit with James. Scorp and I have to go sit with the other prefects remember?"

"You prats, you're ditching me!" Al said teasingly before sauntering off to find his other family members. Rose and Scorpius went off in the other direction towards the front of the train.

"Hey Rose. Hi Scorpius." It was Tiffany. Her usually curly hair had been straightened with a spell. It now flowed down her back and sparkled like gold. She looked beautiful.

"Hi Tiffany. Since you're a prefect do you want to walk with us to the prefect compartment?" Scorpius asked her.

"That'd be great! So Scorpius, are you exited for this year?"

"Definitely, I can't wait to get back on the Quidditch team!"

"Oh yes, you're the Slytherin keeper right? You played really well last year. I think you're the best keeper in the school."

"Your flattery is too much, but I guess I really am," he said with a smirk. Tiffany blushed and looked down at her black Prada pumps. Rose couldn't believe it. Was all of her and Al's scheming finally going to pay off? Or was Tiffany just toying with him?

Scorpius couldn't concentrate on the prefect meeting. He only listened when Stephanie Longbottom announced that they would be keeping the same patrol partners as last year. At least he would be with Rose, although it would be nice to be partnered with Tiffany.

Rose had to admit that she felt a little snubbed when Tiffany slipped past her and slid into the seat next to Scorpius, but she tried to remind herself that this was what Scorpius wanted and it was a good thing that Tiffany was finally taking an interest in her best friend. The prefect meeting was boring, per usual, and Rose couldn't focus. She kept thinking about the schemes that she and Al had brainstormed over the summer and if they'd even be necessary. But, regardless, phase one of their first plan was about to take effect. Al had come up with this one, hence why it was so corny. Rose thought it was stupid, but Al was insistent so she just went along with it.

As the meeting ended Rose swiftly got up from her seat while "accidently" knocking into Tiffany who subsequently tripped and bumped into Scorpius. Thankfully, Scorpius had exceptional reflexes from playing Quidditch and he managed to catch her as effortlessly as he did a Quaffle. This left Tiffany blushing and Scorpius still holding her hand a little awkwardly in his. Rose gave Scorpius a gentle nudge and a look, which Scorpius interpreted as a command to walk Tiffany back to her compartment. Rose smiled. With any luck, Tiffany would invite him to remain there for the rest of the train ride. And Scorpius could finally get to talk to the girl for more than five minutes. This was a major milestone in their relationship for they really hadn't gotten to know each other very well over the past few years due to their being in different houses.

She walked back to the compartment grinning, but it took a little more effort to hold it in place than usual. Compared to their previous years, it was incredibly empty. Since many of their family members had graduated and Lily, Hugo and Roxy had their own compartment (because no one else from their family wanted to put up with Lily's drama queen behavior) that only left her, Al, Lucy and Fred. James went off to find Stephanie Longbottom after the prefect meeting probably to snog her in an empty compartment. They had gotten together at Rose's birthday and Lily couldn't stop gushing about how _adorable_ they were together and by now the entire school knew. Scorpius, of course was also absent, but the compartment was hardly quiet. Al wanted to hear how the plan went.

"Worked like a charm. He's spending the rest of the train ride in their compartment. And Al, guess what Scorp bought me for my birthday! Weird Sister Finally Concert tickets! Three of them!"

"For you, me and him, right? Rose please, you have to invite me!"

"Of course I am! It's during Christmas break, so I'll have to clear it with Dad, but he'll say yes. Or at least he better."

"Scorp always gives the best gifts. Do you remember that year he got me picture of the Falmouth Falcons and it had been autographed by the entire team? I couldn't believe that he actually managed to get it!"

"Why would you want a Falcons picture?" Rose asked. She knew Al was passionate about Quidditch and he _hated_ it when other people insulted his team. "I would have preferred an Arrows one."

"Thank you for that insight Rose. Now I know what to get you next year."

"Scorpius, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Tiffany's compartment." Rose inquired. Scorpius shrugged uncomfortably.

"Don't tell me. You've stopped liking her haven't you?" Scorpius shook his head vigorously.

"Of course not! But we're almost at Hogwarts and I haven't seen you guys since Al's birthday." Why did it sting when Scorpius referred to her as one of the guys? It had never bothered her before.

"Aw Scorp, you really know how to make a girl feel special."

"You're not falling for me are you Rosie?" He asked teasingly. Rose's stomach clenched a little, but she brushed it off. She must still be upset because Scorpius missed her birthday. That was all.

"You wish Scorpius. Now go put your robes on. Like you said, we're almost there."

"As you wish your majesty."

Scorpius had gone back to Tiffany's compartment shortly after that. Rose spent the remaining fifteen minutes or so pretending to read The Other Boleyn Girl, she really liked the book, but for some reason she couldn't focus. That reason was Scorpius. She didn't know why, but he seemed to be occupying her thoughts more than usual. She didn't like it. Rose was afraid that these new…_feelings_, whatever they were, might mess up her friendship with Scorpius. So she pushed them off to the side where they would hopefully be forgotten.

"So anyway Rose you were saying that you're pretty sure that Tiffany likes Scorp too. So I have an idea." Al began to explain the most clichéd idea that Rose had ever heard. Send them each a note from the other one telling them to meet for a Hogsmeade trip. Rose refrained from rolling her eyes, but only barely.

"Al, let's just let things take their course. Then I can ask Tiffany how she feels and-"

"Rose where's your spirit? Things have been 'taking their course' for the past five years! We need to intervene!"  
"Al, we always intervene. It never ends up working. Maybe Scorpius should just try and get over it if nothing else happens."

"What's with you today Rose? You're not jealous or anything are you?"

"Right Al, I'm so jealous of Scorpius being with Tiffany because I want him all to myself." Rose said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, but shaking slightly. Al, in a rare moment of attentiveness, gave Rose a quizzical look. She shrugged it off and looked away, unable to meet his gaze.

"It's nothing Al, I'm just a little tired is all." He nodded and Rose returned her attention to her book. It was going to be an interesting year.


	3. Bribery

**Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it! My uncle made stuffing, it was pretty amazing and I'm really sad that there were no left-overs for me to take home. :'(. If anyone here likes the movie 27 Dresses, I'm writing it as a Rose/Scorpius fic (shame on me for advertising my other stories) so you should check it out : ). Oh, sorry for making Lily such a bitch, but every story needs one and I hate how she's sometimes portrayed as this perfect little golden girl. I mean, she can't be that perfect, right? **

**Once again, see chapter uno for the disclaimer. **

"Can you believe that this is our last first morning at Hogwarts? Even though I've been complaining about school for years, I think I'm really going to miss this place." James announced forlornly to his surrounding family. All of the Weasleys and Potters had gathered at the Gryffindor table like they had every year. James, Fred and Lucy were in the center next to Al and Rose. Roxy was seated as far away from Lily as possible. The two had suffered a falling out on the train because Roxy had wanted to sit with the rest of their family. Lily hadn't taken it well and she exploded, telling Roxy that she was Lily Potter and she couldn't associate with Slytherins like Roxy. Roxy had left the compartment in a huff and had gone to sit with some fellow Slytherins. Hugo, on the other hand, was off to the right, in the middle of Albus and Lily. Lily was, as usual, chatting animatedly with her fellow Gryffinwhores, probably about the blokes they hoped to go to Hogsmeade with. Al shook his head at Lily ever so minutely. Although the two siblings didn't really see eye to eye, Al still had a bit of protective brotherly instincts and it irked him to no end that his baby sister had recently become such a skank. She had practically been throwing herself at every male ever since she had turned fourteen (her Father had actually forbidden her from dating until her fourteenth birthday) and many blokes –at least in her year- weren't complaining.

"Come off it James, you're no fun when your all senti_mental_." Lily said. Her gaggle of fourth year Gryffindors cackled like hyenas. Rose rolled her eyes at Lily's attempt at wittiness. She had absolutely no idea how Lily managed to be so popular. No wait, maybe, just maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was Harry Potter's spoiled rotten, youngest daughter, only daughter, pretty daughter; "perfect daughter" at least in Daddy's eyes, and that was what mattered. Ginny was a little more perceptive, favoring Al and James while Harry fawned over his daughter. But at the same time, Harry wasn't stupid. He knew that Lily could be a little bossy, but he tried overlooking it.

"Lily, don't be such a prat. It's early and I cannot deal with this." Rose told her irritating cousin. Both red heads had short tempers and the fact that it was seven in the morning, before they'd had coffee had done little to help the situation.

"Get off your high horse Rose. I was just having some fun. You're such an uptight bitch sometimes, no wonder you don't have a boyfriend."

"Fun? You call that fun? Maybe you should look it up in a dictionary, but wait; you probably don't know what that is!"

"Like I said Rose. You. Are. A. Bitch."

"Look in the mirror and you'll find that you're mistaken." Lily was silent for several seconds. Rose smiled smugly. Why people actually tolerated Lily Potter was beyond her. Besides Hugo, Lily had managed to alienate her entire family. Give the girl a hand.

"What's wrong Potter? Can't outwit Rose? Don't feel bad, not many people can." Scorpius drawled while he sauntered over to their table and took the seat next to Rose. Lily looked angry at his comment, but decided that he wasn't worth her time and went back to talking with her friends.

"Good morning sleepy head. 'Bout time you woke up." Rose told him teasingly.

"It was a bit of a long night." Rose squirmed a little. Knowing Scorpius, he was probably making some sort of innuendo about his er…nighttime activities. Scorpius smirked at her discomfort.

"Not that Rosie. Get your mind out of the gutter."

"It wasn't in the gutter!"

"You keep telling yourself that Rose."

"I will thanks."

"Anyway, I was actually talking to Tiffany."

"Oh really lover boy, are you sure that wasn't just in your dreams?"

"Haha my sarcastic friend. No, this was real. We walked around the lake for a while. You know that security is way lax the first night back. I figured it would be nice."

"Very romantic. What muggle rom-com did you steal that idea from?" Scorpius felt a little off about where this conversation was going. Usually, Rose and Al would be all over this information the way Lily was with gossip. Why wasn't she happy about this like she usually was? Maybe she was just tired?

"What's up Rose? You don't seem like yourself." Rose sighed almost imperceptibly, but Scorpius had known her for years and he caught it. He frowned at her and she looked away.

"I'm just tired Scorpius, don't worry about it." He said nothing, but he let it pass. She would tell him later. He was sure of it.

But the truth was that Rose was very much awake. Her mind was working a thousand miles a minute trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Why did it irritate her so much that Scorpius had taken Tiffany on a nighttime stroll? She should be happy for him. But for some reason, she just wasn't.

As they had planned, Rose was instructed to become friendlier with Tiffany. Although it took a lot of pushing from Albus to get Rose to act. Al was beginning to get curious about why Rose was acting so weird. Rose would reply that she was just stressed about an upcoming test in Arithmancy or that month long project in Transfiguration. Thankfully, Al was one of the most gullible people to walk the Earth and he usually swallowed her lies. But if Rose was going to be honest, she would have no idea what to say. Why didn't she want to talk to Tiffany about Scorpius? Why did she suddenly not want to talk to Tiffany at all? Rose had no clue and decided that she must be having some kind of weird, early PMS or something.

Rose walked into the Charms class room and secured herself a seat near the front on Tiffany's left side, the spot usually reserved for Katherine Goode. But Katherine had relocated her seat to the other side of the room in order to sit next to Tiffany's ex-boyfriend Christopher Watson. A fact that Tiffany did not look happy about considering that she was eyeing the couple warily.

"Hey Tiffany. Can I sit here?"

"Sure Rose. That's usually Kathy's seat, but she's obviously found somewhere better to sit." Tiffany said with a hint of venom in her voice that was directed towards Katherine. Rose smirked. Fights like this usually only lasted for a day or two. They'd be sitting next to each other again tomorrow morning.

"Are you okay with her and Chris together? You look kind of upset."

"Well he was my boyfriend." _I know how you feel. Katherine Goode stole my boyfriend too. Difference is, we were dating at the time. _That's what she wanted to say, but instead she took a calming breathe and continued.

"But you broke up with him right?"

"Yeah, but Kathy knows that ex boyfriends are off limits."

"But you said yourself that you've dated all the Gryffindors in your year and up. And you've never minded that she's dated your exes before." Rose was utterly baffled by the workings of these girls' minds.

"I know, but this was a recent thing so it's different."

"Oh, I see." No she didn't see.

"Whatever, do you want to work on the class work with me? I'm rubbish at this stuff."

"Sure, let me see the book." It was actually simple material-protection spells- and Rose was fairly certain that Tiffany did know what to do and just didn't feel like doing it herself. But Rose didn't really care. She'd probably do it faster without Tiffany's help.

Rose finished with twenty five minutes left in the lesson. Everyone else was still working. Tiny Professor Flitwick came over to inspect their work.

"Well done girls! Absolutely perfect. Top marks for this work!" Rose smiled graciously at Professor Flitwick and he gave her a knowing look before going over to aid another table. He knew that Rose had done all of the work.

"So Rose, how's your year been so far? I know it's only October, but I've heard that you've been busy."

"Who told you that?" Rose wondered how Tiffany had any insight whatsoever into her personal life.

"Scorpius of course! He says that you're really focusing on your school work this year." Tiffany blushed and corrected herself. "Not that you don't always do well. I mean, you're the best in our year, but Scorpius says that he almost never sees you anymore because you're always busy with school work and what not." _Maybe that's because he's with you?_ Rose thought bitterly. She then shook her head to clear it of those thoughts.

"I'm just putting in the extra effort for the Head Girl title. You know how it is."

"Hmmm, I think you're already a shoe in for Head Girl. I mean they've only got four people who could take it; the sixth year prefects. You for Ravenclaw, me for Gryffindor, Rachel for Hufflepuff and Nadia in Slytherin. And, let's face it; Nadia and I are definitely out and Rachel's got nothing on you… so you do the math."

"Thanks Tiffany, that means a lot."

"No problem. Better you than me anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well it's not like I'd actually want to be Head Girl you know? It's hard enough being a prefect with all of those rules. In my seventh year I'll be going to a lot of parties and I can't do that if I'm a Head." Suddenly, Rose wasn't as desperate for that title. Was being Head Girl really thought of as being a burden instead of a reward? Would she really not be able to go to any parties? But Al and Scorp would be throwing tons!

"Oh." _'Oh' Rose, really? How eloquent of you._ Rose thought to herself.

"Rose I almost forgot! Stephanie Longbottom told me to give you this. All the prefects got one, but she came down to breakfast a little late and missed the opportunity to give you this." Tiffany handed Rose a piece of parchment with Stephanie's cramped hand writing on it.

_Dear Prefects,_

_As you all know, Halloween is just around the corner and that means that the Halloween Ball is approaching. As Heads, Jack and I have been put in charge of organizing the annual Halloween Ball for years five through seven, no exceptions. It will be a formal dance with food, music and entertainment and I need all of the prefects to help with the organization of said Ball. I have already chosen the theme for the dance. It has always been, and will continue to be Halloween themed, despite numerous protests of this in favor of themes like 'Fairy Tale', 'Under the Sea', 'In the Jungle', etc. I expect everyone to dress up in a costume for the dance and encourage the others in your year to dress up as well. Last year only half of the invited people attended and even less wore costumes. We need to make the Halloween Ball a fun experience for our fellow students. So please show some Halloween spirit. We will be having a read: MANDATORY planning meeting (I know that some of you are planning on blowing this off, don't!) tomorrow (10/3/10) in the library. I will see you all there. _

_Sincerely,_

_Stephanie Longbottom_

_And Jack Hamilton_

Rose grinned. Stephanie always took her responsibilities _very_ seriously. But Rose almost felt sorry for the Head Girl. It was obvious that Stephanie really wanted to make the Ball fun, but the Halloween Ball hadn't been taken seriously for years. Barely anyone went, preferring to have their own Halloween parties (with alcohol) in the dorms and the dance was generally so corny that it was constantly ridiculed.

"So what do you think?" Tiffany asked her. "She's wasting her time isn't she? No one ever takes the Halloween Ball seriously."

"Yeah, but it could be fun! And if anyone could pull it off, it would be Steph."

"The only way people would come would be if it wasn't so corny! People love the Yule Ball and the seventh years love the Graduation Ball, but that's because those are elegant and fun. The Halloween Ball is for the fifth years."

"Then we'll just have to make it fun." Tiffany eyed Rose quizzically.

"You're actually getting into this idea aren't you? Why?" Rose shrugged, she didn't know why. She only wanted to help out. She wanted people to go to the Ball that obviously meant so much to Stephanie. And if Tiffany helped out too…that would certainly make other people want to go.

"Come one, Tiffany, were on the planning committee, we can make this Ball fun!"

"I guess…" Rose smiled, sensing Tiffany's resolve against the Ball start to waver. Rose actually liked planning events, but last year only the Heads got to plan the Ball. It was cool that Stephanie was allowing all the prefects to help.

"Please Tiffany?" Tiffany sighed before giving Rose a small smile.

"Okay, I'll help. But I really don't want this dance to be lame!"

"It won't be."

"So if I do help with this Ball, hypothetically, who should I take?" Rose looked taken aback at the quick subject change. But of course, dates would be the number one priority in Tiffany's mind.

"Uh… I don't know."

"Do you know who you'd like to go with Rose?" Rose's palms started to feel sweaty.

"Well I usually go with Scorp…but only as friends. Unless he has a date or something."

"He's not dating anyone right now right?"

"What! I mean, uh no I don't think so." Tiffany gave Rose a sly smile.

"That's odd. He almost always has a girl on his arm."

"Uhhhh."

"He's your best friend , does he talk to you about this kind of stuff?"

"Er, sometimes."

"You know, most of the girls in this school would sacrifice their wands to know who Scorpius Malfoy liked." Rose did not feel comfortable with where this conversation was going. Tiffany seemed a little too attuned to Scorpius' feelings. _Does she know that he likes her?_ No, she couldn't know, could she?

"Well, I'd never tell. 'Cause that's what best friends are for and all." Tiffany gave her another smile, showing all of her tiny, white teeth.

"I understand, Rose."

Thankfully, the class ended right then. Rose gathered up her books in a hurry and dashed out of the class, Tiffany's 'see you at the meeting' trailing behind her. She kept sprinting until _Wham!_ She collided with a tall, thin frame.

"Clary!" Rose exhaled, so relieved to see her friend. Clary helped Rose off the floor and then Rose was grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging her into an empty class room.

"Rose what is going on?"

"Clary, you don't have class now do you?"

"No Rose, I've got a free."

"Great, I need to tell you something."

Rose explained the entire situation to Clary. Rose had already told Clary about Scorpius liking Tiffany. Normally Rose wouldn't have told anyone this, but Clary would never ever tell a secret, so Rose trusted her with Scorpius'. Clary's caramel colored eyes (that matched her hair) widened in surprise and then comprehension as Rose told her the entire tale from her birthday party all the way up to Charms.

"Rose Weasley! You naughty girl! Why didn't you ever tell me that you fancied Scorpius?" Rose nearly choked on her own saliva she was so shocked.

"What! No! I don't fancy him! He's my best friend! And keep your bloody voice down!"

"Rose, you're the one that's shouting-"

"Well that's because you're being bloody insane!"

"What's so insane about it? He's your best friend, he's good looking, what's not to like?"

"Uh, like you said, he's my best friend! Yeah, I _definitely_ fancy Scorpius Malfoy!" Rose shouted sarcastically.

"Good to know, cousin!" Rose pivoted in slow motion. Standing by the door way was Lily Luna Potter herself, smiling like the Cheshire cat. _Shit_. Lily turned and darted out the door and Rose ran after her as fast as she could.

"Lily! Stop! Let me explain!" But Lily kept running, so Rose kept chasing. Thankfully, Rose was in much better shape than Lily due to playing Quidditch since her fourth year as Ravenclaw's chaser. The most exercise Lily ever got was her mouth, which ran a mile a minute. Rose caught up with Lily and cornered her in an empty class room before quickly locking herself and Lily in. Lily tried to open the door, but stopped once she realized that her efforts were futile. She turned around and faced Rose. Rose's wand was out and pointed towards Lily. Lily's wand was still in her robes, but she didn't dare make a move to take it out, for Rose was an exceptional dueler while Lily was not.

Now that she was reduced to this position, Lily started to whimper. That was how she got her way. But instead of softening, Rose's eyes narrowed.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex you into next week."

"Rose, come on, I was only kidding-"

"Save it _Lils_ I know you were serious!"

"I swear I won't say anything! I promise!"

"How do I know that you're serious? You've never given me a reason to trust you!"

"Rose! We're cousins!"

"Some cousin you are! Threatening to tell the whole school that I like Scorpius. Which I don't by the way. I was being sarcastic when I said that to Clary." Lily gave her a disbelieving look.

"You may have tried to laugh it off, but I can tell that you like him."

"I don't! Why does everyone think that!"

"'Cause it's obvious maybe?"

"Lily, we are ending this conversation. You're distracting me from the important thing. How do I know that you won't tell the entire school?"

"I don't know Rose. Just going to have to take a chance I suppose." Lily said smirking ominously. Suddenly Rose had an idea. Lily valued the materialistic things in life, so why not bribe her for her silence?

"Alright Lily, if you can keep your trap shut about me "fancying" Scorpius –which I don't!- then I'll get you something that all the other fourth years would kill for." Lily was suddenly listening with rapt attention.

"What kind of thing?"

"I'll get you a pass to the Halloween Ball." Since Lily was only a fourth year, she technically wasn't allowed to attend, but Rose was a close friend of Stephanie and she was pretty sure that Steph would pull some strings for Rose. Fortunately, Lily hadn't yet reached the age where she thought that the dances were pathetic. _Not that this dance would be pathetic_ she reminded herself.

Lily's eyes were shining. Only fifth years were allowed to go to the dances and she had been dreaming about them ever since her Daddy's stories about the Yule Ball.

"Really Rose?"

"Only if you keep your mouth shut! I'm giving you the ticket on the night of the Ball so no funny business or no ticket. Deal?"

"Deal!" They shook on it before exiting the class room and going their separate ways. With Rose praying to Merlin that Lily's materialistic nature would override her obsession with gossip. She'd never live it down otherwise. Hopefully, Lily would either forget by the time the Ball came around or Rose would have to come up with another idea to buy Lily's silence. She'd better come up with another idea, or else she'd be the laughingstock of the entire school. Courtesy of her _dearest_ cousin.


	4. Likable Lily?

**Disclaimer: If you truly believe that I created the Harry Potter universe then see chapter one and a doctor 'cause I'm obviously not JK Rowling. **

While Rose was a little excited for the prefect meeting that was coming up later today, she was still in a horrible mood. Not only was her hair more of a disaster than usual, but she- actually she wasn't at fault at all, for it was James who jostled her seat- had spilled orange juice all over her. It wouldn't have been a big deal normally, a quick scourgify would have cleaned things up in an instant, but Rose had gotten this shirt while on a shopping trip in Muggle London and the muggle clothing didn't react too well with the cleaning charm as Rose had just discovered. Instead of just having a small orange blotch on her _white_ Lacoste polo she now had an enormous discolored country that made her shirt look like it had been soaked in cat vomit or something to that effect. To top it all off, Al was blowing off their scheduled study session to hang out (aka snog) with Julie Mitch, some random Hufflepuff seventh year that could barely manage a simple Wingardium Leviosa. But she was hot so Al decided to overlook her intelligence (or lack thereof) for a bit.

She looked up when she heard the familiar flapping of wings. Smiling and hoping that maybe Eowyn would bring her some interesting mail. However, she failed to notice the weighed down owl that appeared to be crash landing…right on her head. Rose was so surprised at the impact that she fell off her seat and onto her butt. James and Fred burst into hysterics.

"Merlin Rose! That had to be the funniest thing I've seen all morning. No make that my entire week! You even beat Lily's, remember, just last week when she was _trying _to play Quidditch? Priceless!"

Both Rose and Lily glared at Fred for teasing them.

"Piss off Fred, neither of us want to hear it."

"Oh sorry Rosie Posey. Did big, bad Freddy upset you?" Fred rejoined in a baby voice that was obviously meant to mock her. Rose frowned in annoyance. First the stain, then Al, the owl and now Freddy too?

"You heard her Fred she said piss off. Let's go Rose. I'll lend you a shirt if you want." Rose blinked up at Lily in surprise. Surely Lily Luna Potter couldn't have just been nice to her. What was wrong with the world today? Next thing you know pigs will be able to fly. But Rose didn't say any of that. Instead she wordlessly nodded and grabbed for Lily's extended hand to pull herself up off the floor. Rose gave Lily a tentative smile still trying to perceive if Lily was being genuine or not.

The two cousins walked silently down the hall and up to Gryffindor Tower. Prior to entering Rose stopped and looked up to look Lily in the eyes. It was incessantly vexing that she, a sixth year actually had to look up to see a fourth year's face. At five foot seven, Lily was tall for her age, and still growing. She was constantly flaunting the fact that she could be a model with her height. This was certainly true. With straight, flawless dark red hair that was only inches away from her butt, vivacious amber eyes and clear, creamy skin, Lily was her uncontested, prettiest cousin (excluding the veelas because it's just not fair to be born that pretty). In Rose's opinion, she was the less pretty version of Lily. Rose stood at five foot four and wasn't going to get any taller. She had bright red hair that fell slightly past her shoulders in springy, uncontrollable curls (thankfully, her hair wasn't as frizzy as her mother's), she had her mum's chocolate eyes and had also inherited pale skin which was of course spattered with freckles. Lily's eyes met Rose's darker ones with a questioning look in them.

"What's up?" the younger girl asked.

"Why are you being so nice to me all of the sudden?" Lily shrugged and looked slightly uncomfortable.

"Can't a girl hang out with her cousins?"

"Of course, but usually you decide to insult us. It's just not like you to want to hang out with me. "

"Well we are cousins…"

"That's never stopped you from being mean before." Rose paused, waiting for Lily to respond. When she didn't, Rose continued. "Is this about me getting you a ticket to the dance?"

"Sort of. But it's more the fact that you'd actually do something nice for me. I thought that you were just going to hex me."

"It was tempting." Lily gave a short laugh at that.

"And…to be honest. I kind of miss having a cousin to talk to." Rose raised one eyebrow, a delicate art form that she had perfected last year.

"You've got Hugo."

"But ever since I got in that fight with Roxy, I haven't had any girl cousins."

"So I'm your Roxy substitute?"

"Sort of. Not really though, cause I don't think I'd be able to get you to listen to me the way Roxy did."

"Got that right Lily." Lily gave Rose another small smile.

"So, what do you say? Want to be my temporary Roxy?" Rose giggled a little. Who would've thought that Lily could be both nice and funny? It was a little strange, but Rose kind of liked it.

"Sure Lily. So can I borrow that shirt now?" Lily got Rose a plain black long sleeve tee. It was a little small on Lily, but Rose was thinner so it fit her perfectly.

"Thanks Lily."

"No problem. You look good in black; it makes your hair stand out." Rose examined herself in the mirror. Rose wasn't quite sure that she agreed with Lily's assessment, but she was grateful for the compliment.

"So…" Rose began awkwardly. Since it was Saturday, she had no classes and the prefect meeting wasn't until five. Rose looked at her silver watch. It read eight thirteen. She had plenty of time to kill. "Do you want to hang out?" Lily looked taken aback, but not in a bad way.

"Uh, sure Rose."

"It's okay if you're busy, you don't have to-"

"No, I'm free. Do you want to go up to my room? It'll be empty all day. Megan Price and Amelia Sokoloff both have tutoring." Lily leaned in a little closer so she could whisper to Rose. "They're both failing Potions!" Rose smirked at that, she wasn't really surprised that Lily's two "best friends" were failing.

Rose and Lily stayed up there for hours. They talked, laughed, played exploding snap, anything they could think of. Lily had even used a Sleakeazy potion to straighten Rose's hair for the day.

"It's weird that we've known each other out entire lives, yet this is the first real conversation that we've ever had." Lily started. Rose was increasingly ashamed at herself. She had always judged Lily as a vapid bimbo who couldn't string any coherent thoughts together that weren't about shoes. But after hours of conversing with her younger cousin, she realized that, under her bitchy exterior, there was actually a funny, clever girl who just didn't know how to show it. And Rose, who always believed that she was so perceptive, couldn't believe that she had missed this. James was probably to blame. It was easy to blame James for anything that went wrong, but Rose guessed that James's constant teasing had made Lily want to be separate from him, and to prove to her older brother that she could be just as popular as him.

"Well, I never noticed that you were-you know- like this underneath your 'popular persona'. I wish I had though."

"Me too." They sat in silence for a while. Lily ran a brush through Rose's newly straightened hair.

"So… care to tell me about Scorpius?" Rose blushed, thankful that her back was facing Lily so her cousin couldn't see her rapidly reddening cheeks.

"What's there to say, Lily?"

"Not to pry, but I always thought that you might fancy him, that's why I was so excited when I heard you talking to Clary. Well that and the fact that it was the juiciest piece of gossip that Hogwarts had seen for a while. And even though I'm sorry about that, I still want that ticket Rose!" Rose smiled at her.

"Sure! I'll just talk to Steph about it. She probably won't have a problem with it." Rose said, smoothly evading her question about Scorpius.

"Ohh Rose, I'm so excited for the dance!"

"Me too! I really hope it's good this year, every other year they say that it's been tacky, but I want to make it better."

"I bet you could Rose." Lily said, nodding seriously. Rose checked her watch, four fifty.

"I've got to go Lily. But we should hang out again sometime." Lily smiled.

"Definitely!"

Rose made her way through the halls until she got to the library, at four fifty nine. Not surprisingly, she was the first, besides Stephanie and a bored looking Jack. Stephanie looked absolutely elated to see her.

"Rose! You're the first one."

"Where is everyone else?" Stephanie looked a little put out at that.

"Well it's not five yet, and I kind of expected people to be a little late." They waited around for a few more minutes, Jack flipping though Quidditch Weekly and Rose talking with Stephanie. All of the prefects were there at this point with the exception of Scorpius and Tiffany. Stephanie eyed Rose.

"Next time Rose could you remind Scorpius to come? He obviously doesn't listen to me, but since you two are best friends, he might listen to you-" Stephanie was cut off by two figures laughing as they walked into the library. It was Tiffany and Scorpius.

"Sorry we're late Stephanie" Scorpius drawled in his casual tone. Rose smiled, but rolled her eyes at him. She patted the seat next to her and was shocked (and a little hurt) when Scorpius looked away and sat down next to Tiffany instead, who had also offered Scorpius a seat. Rose stared at Scorpius, hating herself for noticing how his eyes looked almost like silver.

"Thank you for joining us Scorpius and Tiffany." Stephanie said coolly. Scorpius resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. Stephanie was a tad too obsessed with her title.

"Anyway, now that you're all here we need to discuss our plans for the Ball. I was talking to Rose before the meeting began and we have come up with a many new ideas. Since there have been multiple complaints about the ball being too boring, we are going to change that. This year we're going to hire a band," Seeing all of the eye rolls that this generated, she modified her statement. "A real band this time, and we're also going to have a costume contest!" Stephanie told them all excitedly.

The only one who was smiling was Rose. Everyone else just stared at her, including the not-so-helpful Head Boy.

"Okay…I'm going to assign a few of you to be committee heads. Rose, you will be in charge of events. Tiffany, if you wouldn't mind, Rose was saying that you would help. You can be the head of PR, which is basically you spreading the word around that this ball will be different." Stephanie continued. Katie, the seventh year Hufflepuff prefect and a close friend of Stephanie, was assigned to decorations, Tyler Brown, Katie's fellow seventh year Hufflepuff, was in charge of admission and finally Bryan Goldstein, a popular but likeable seventh year Slytherin was in charge of catering. All of the other prefects will be allowed to choose which group they wanted to be in, as long as it was roughly even. Rose was positively ecstatic when she realized that the PR group was too full and Scorpius wasn't in it. That meant that he was going to be in events with her! Both Tiffany and Scorpius were looking a little forlorn, but Rose's blinding smile at Scorpius made his mouth corners twitch upwards a little.

"Alright everyone, that's all for tonight. We'll have another meeting in a little while to discuss the committees and the rolls that they have to play, but for now, you can all go back to your dormitories."

The other prefects all filed out of the room, eager to get back to their common rooms. Rose sighed as Scorpius walked out without Tiffany. He didn't even look back at her. Normally he would have waited for her, but Rose felt like she had barely seen him at all this year. Stephanie, the last one remaining in the room was just about to depart herself when Rose remembered why she was staying late.

"Steph, wait. I was wondering if I could ask you a question about the Ball." Stephanie brightened, obviously enthusiastic that someone besides herself was taking an interest in the Ball.

"Of course Rose! Ask away."

"Well remember how you were saying that only fifth years and up could come to the Ball? Well I really wanted to secure a ticket for my cousin Lily. She's a fourth year, but I swear she won't be any trouble! And she's really excited about it. Please!" Stephanie looked at her friend a little warily.

"Rose, I thought that you and Lily didn't get along. Why would you want to get her a ticket?"

"We used to dislike each other, but Lily's grown up a lot, that's why I want a ticket for her. Please Steph, for me? I promise that no other fourth years will come." Stephanie heisted for a while, looking pensive.

"I'm really sorry Rose, but I can't give Lily a ticket just because we're friends. It isn't fair." _Oh Merlin, what am I going to do now? Lily's going to hate me again if I back out on my promise! And then she'll tell everyone! _Rose thought to herself.

"Could you do it for James then? Lily is his younger sister after all!" Please Steph, I already promised her one." Stephanie blushed at the mention of her boyfriend's name.

"I'm really sorry Rose, but rules are rules and I can't bend them for anyone. Not even for my friends." Rose stared back at her shocked. She had been so confident that getting an extra ticket would be a breeze.

After she gathered all of her belongings, Stephanie left the room too, leaving Rose all alone to ponder what she was going to do about the recent turn of events.

Rose would've headed back to Ravenclaw Tower, but she was lonely and none of her friends would be there at the moment. Looking at her watch for the millionth time that day, she saw that she still had an hour or so to kill before dinner. She could stay in the library she mused, but she eventually decided against it. All of her homework was done and she had no long term assignments either. She could go to Gryffindor Tower and see her family, but then she might have to see Lily and Rose was afraid of how that would go down. Would Lily hate her again? Was their brief camaraderie only because of the ticket? Or would Lily be disappointed in her for failing to follow through on their deal? Instead, Rose went down the stairs and into the dungeons. She passed a few corridors and eventually turned down the one that lead to the Slytherin Common room. Al would probably be done with Julie, so maybe she could hang out with him. And maybe, just maybe, Scorpius wouldn't be hanging out with Tiffany and the three of them could hang out like they used to.

Before arriving at the entrance to the Slytherin common room Rose suddenly felt nervous, which was odd because she had hung out in the Slytherin dungeons plenty of times before.

'But what if Al isn't there and it's just you and Scorpius?' Rose number one thought. 'So what?' thought Rose number two.

'You and Scorpius are best mates, you hang out on your own all the time. What does it matter if Al's there or not?'

'Well, you just haven't talked to him in a while is all. And what if he's with Tiffany?'

'Then it's a good thing that we interrupting them!' Rose number two muttered angrily. Rose number one gave Rose number two a stern look before Rose shook her head to stop the internal bickering. The only thing she should be worrying about is whether or not she had the most recent Slytherin password. Al always kept her updated on them, just in case she wanted to pop in. She would have done the same for him, but you couldn't give someone the answer to a riddle if you hadn't heard it yet. Besides, Al or Scorpius could usually figure it out eventually.

"Basilisk." Thankfully, the door swung opened and Rose walked into the common room. There were a few fourth years hanging around and a two second years that were playing wizard chess, but apart from that it was totally empty. Not a sign of Scorpius or Al in sight. Rose stood there a little awkwardly, not sure what to do. She was about to check in Al and Scorpius' dorms when Leslie Vine, a fellow sixth year came down from her dorm.

"Hey Rose," Leslie said beaming. Rose smiled in return. Leslie was a genuinely nice person and she was very funny. Rose often wished that she could get to know Leslie better, but Leslie hung out with Nadia Van Statten so much and Rose was loath to associate with Nadia.

"Hi Leslie, how's your year been so far?"

"It's been good, I guess, nothing special yet. What about you? I've heard you've been really busy."

"Oh yeah, just…studying. Anyway, do you know if Al and Scorpius are here?"

"Al's got detention… because of him and Julie. Professor Longbottom found them snogging in the old Charms room and gave both of them a detention." Rose burst out laughing, served him right for bailing on her!

"Are you serious? Merlin, I'm never going to let him live this one down! He's got to be the only person who actually ever gets caught!"

"I know, right! Well if you still want to see Scorpius he just went up to his dorm like two minutes ago."

"Thanks Leslie. See you around." Leslie gave Rose a little wave before Leslie departed the common room. Rose walked up the boy's dormitories stairs. Rose knocked on the door to Scorpius' dorm room and waited for an answer.

"Who is it?" Scorpius called.

"Scorp, it's me, Rose." Rose heard Scorpius shuffling over to the door. Scorpius opened the door with a smile on his face.

"Rose! It's so good to see you! I feel like I haven't seen you at all!"

"Hey Scorpius! And we really need to hang out, like now. Because the last time we really talked was on the train."

"Yeah, but we've both been busy. Tiffany and I hang out all the time and you've been busy…studying, right?"

"Yup, but I'm not studying now…so do you want to hang out now?"

"Of course! It's a Hogsmeade weekend, so let's go!" Rose smiled, oddly relieved that he wasn't spending it with Tiffany. As if he read her mind Scorpius then told her that Tiffany was hanging out with Katherine and Charlotte that day. 'Girls Day' Tiffany had called it. Scorpius threw on a jacket and Rose borrowed one from Albus. And they set off for Hogsmeade, Rose feeling happier than she had for a while.

**Rose/Scorpius action coming up in the next chapter! Tell me your thoughts and review!**


	5. The NonDate and The Riddle

**Sorry that I haven't updated in a while, I've been working on this HUGE English project that's been taking up all of my free time so I haven't been able to write more and mid terms are coming up next week. Yikes! So I might not update again for a while, but I will finish it…eventually, that's a promise :-). **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the riddle that Rose answers to get into Ravenclaw Tower. **

When Scorpius had set out to Hogsmeade with Rose, he had imagined it to be just like usual. He expected it to be them talking and having fun, but Merlin it was not like that at all. At first it had been fine, just the two of them catching up with each other and joking around, but then it got…awkward. They had never run out of things to talk about before, but now they were both silent and it wasn't exactly a comfortable silence either. Scorpius had tried to bring up Tiffany, but Rose's reaction was a tad frosty. Scorpius didn't know what was up with her.

"Okay, I'll bite." Scorpius told her. Rose looked at him and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Bite what?"

"You only act all quiet and stuff when I've done something wrong, so what did I do? Why aren't you talking?"

Rose thought about her answer. She was a little mad at Scorpius, but her anger was kind of unjustified. She was pissed that he hadn't been making an effort to hang out with her this year, but then again, she hadn't exactly been seeking him out either. _That's because I don't want to interrupt him when he's with Tiffany. _She thought to herself.

"Nothing's wrong, I was just thinking."

"'Bout what?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Had he always been so annoyingly persistent? Rose wondered.

"I was thinking about the dance," Rose lied. But Scorpius didn't catch it.

"Oh yeah, Tiff told me that you were actually excited about it and that you were already planning it out in your mind." He called her Tiff now?

"Come on, it doesn't have to be boring every year!"

"Whatever you say Rose. Hey, do you want to get a butterbeer? We haven't been to the Three Broomsticks in a while."

"Sure," Rose agreed enthusiastically. "You know, it almost feels wrong to go without Al, you want to go somewhere else instead?" Scorpius looked at her quizzically.

"Rose, where else would we go? We always go to the Three Broomsticks. And don't think for a minute that you can drag me back into the Hogs Head. I still haven't forgotten that time last year when that weird old lady tried hitting on me. Scarred me for life it did."

"Fine then, why don't we go to Madam Pudifoot's? Since that's the only other place we could go." Scorpius almost stopped dead in his tracks. Madam Pudifoot's wasn't just somewhere you went with your friends. It was a place that you went for a date…He really hoped that Rose wasn't trying to send him a message or some shit like that. But…nah, he and Rose weren't like that, they were just friends, best friends. Right?

"What like a date?" Scorpius asked her, almost nervously. Rose looked slightly flustered and pink splotches started popping up on her cheeks.

"Well…" she began trying to gauge his reaction. When his face didn't light up in ecstasy, Rose diverted her sentence. "No of course not. Don't be ridiculous, it's just a place to eat. It's a non-date." Scorpius smiled.

"Fine, let's go. But we'll make it quick, yeah? I don't want to be in that girly tea pot any longer than necessary."

"What if you were with Tiffany?" Rose inquired, a slight, undetectable edge in her teasing.

"Eh, that would be different wouldn't it Rosie? Wouldn't have to be embarrassed to be seen with her now would I?" Rose glowered at him and smacked his arm.

"Relax Rose, I was just teasing. I need that arm for Quidditch you know."

"Well, maybe now that I've wounded you Ravenclaw will have a shot at winning!" Scorpius smirked at her.

"Really Rose? Ravenclaw will never win the Quidditch Cup, Gryffindor wins every year. But maybe if you joined the team this year that would change. They haven't held try outs yet you know and you're practically a shoe in for the chaser spot that Ravenclaw is replacing." Rose smiled up at him, they had this discussion every year; Scorpius trying to persuade Rose to join the Quidditch team.

"I don't have time for it Scorp. I've got homework and prefect duties and-"

"I do too, but I still manage to play. You should join, I'm serious. The Ravenclaw team's problem is its weak chasers and with you, it wouldn't be as much of a problem. Ravenclaw might win the Quidditch cup, like you said."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Ravenclaw won't win. Not with Gryffindor having James and Fred; the best chasers in the school. They've also got Jessie Queen and she's a good seeker. And then the Slytherins who've got you and Al, who's an even better seeker than Jessie." Scorpius grinned internally, Quidditch was a great way to clear up the awkwardness between them and it was a topic that never got old.

"Tell you what," Scorpius said as they slid into their seats at Madam Pudifoot's. "We'll flip a coin. Heads, you try out, tails you don't. Deal?" Rose raised an eyebrow at him.

"No deal," she replied smoothly.

"Okay, how about this; heads you try out, tails you don't and I'll buy you the newest Nimbus model for Christmas." Normally, Rose would never succumb to a bribe, but she had been eyeing that broom ever since it hit the shelves last month. She had propositioned her dad to get it for her birthday, but he rejected the idea saying that it was way too much to spend on a broom when she already had a perfectly fine nimbus. And even though their family was pretty wealthy, Ron remembered what it was like to not have a lot and he wanted his children to appreciate what they had.

"The Nimbus X? Are you serious?" Rose whispered. Scorpius grinned and nodded.

"Take it or leave it Rosie and I highly suggest that you take it." Rose looked at him for a second before answering.

"Fine, we've got a deal. You don't even have to flip the coin, I'll do it," she said almost begrudgingly. Scorpius beamed at her.

"Awesome, I can't wait to play you in the upcoming matches. Al's not going to believe that I finally got you to go out for the team!"

"Don't let this inflate your oversized head!" Rose teased, finishing off her cappuccino. She took out a handful of sickles and placed them on the table. She checked her favorite silver watch. "I'm ready to go if you are. Did you finish your coffee?" Rose inquired. Scorpius shook his head, showing Rose a cup practically filled to the brim with black coffee. Rose looked at him questioningly.

"The coffee here sucks. I asked for black, but I can taste the sugar in this plain as day. Try it." Rose took a small sip from his cup and let the cooling coffee slide down her throat. _Definitely sweeter than black should be. _She decided, agreeing with Scorpius' assessment.

"Yeah, you're right, it is kind of sweet for black." He nodded and the two exited from the tea shop. They strolled down the streets until they got to Honeydukes. It was a tradition of theirs that they always buy some candy to stock up on after every Hogsmeade trip because you never knew when you might need some chocolate.

"Three licorice wands, a pound of milk chocolate and a pack of Bertie Bott's." Rose announced expertly, she always got the same order each time they came here. Then Rose had a second though.

"And two chocolate frogs please," she told the employee. It was no secret that the two younger Potter siblings were addicted to chocolate frogs, so Rose decided to pick them up a little treat.

"Who's the other one for? One's for Al, right, but you got two…"

"The other's for Lily." Scorpius raised an eyebrow at her.

"I noticed that you've been hanging out with her a bit lately without tearing her head off. What's up with that, don't you hate her?"

"Hate is a strong word," Rose countered. "And no I don't hate her, at least not anymore. She really isn't that bad if she's being nice you know."

"Wow," Scorpius said. "I never thought I'd see the day that Rose Weasley played nice with Lily Potter. I really have been out of the loop haven't I?"

"Yeah, but I forgive you. Well, only if you promise not to let it happen again."

"On my honor," Scorpius declared mock solemnly. Rose burst into giggles at his forced straight face. Just as Scorpius was about to start laughing along with her, he stopped and regained some of his composure. Rose looked up to see what made him straighten up so quickly. Tiffany Sinclair and Katherine Goode were on the other side of the store, staring at the Rose and Scorpius. Tiffany beckoned to Scorpius to join them. He gave Rose an apologetic glance.

"Rose do you mind? I mean, we were just about to go back to the castle anyway, right?" Rose shook her head sadly, but she plastered a fake smile on her face.

"No problem, have fun! I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Scorpius smiled in relief.

"Thanks Rose, you're the best. Don't forget about try outs, I think yours are next Tuesday."

"Great, See you later,"

"Bye," he called half heartedly and strolled over to Tiffany. Rose stood there for a little while longer watching the unfortunate scene unfolding in front of her.

_Scorpius shouldn't be with her. She doesn't even like him that much. Scorpius deserves someone so much better, not some stuck-up girl who's only stringing him along. _ Rose thought bitterly as she stalked out of the store with her purchases in hand. Upon thinking that, Rose stopped short. She didn't know what had come over her. Tiffany was one of her friends (well, sort of) and Rose should not be bashing a friend like that whether it was to their face or only in her mind. Slightly ashamed, Rose began the trek back to the castle.

"Rose, Rosie! Wait up! Merlin, no one would ever believe that your short legs could make you move that fast…" Al said jokingly, but his voice trailed off once he realized that Rose wasn't in the mood.

"Sorry," he said immediately. Rose simply looked at him. "What's up with you? Are you feeling alright?" He asked, his green eyes full of concern for his favorite cousin. Rose did not want to talk about the outlandish sensation that she was feeling at the moment. So she said the first thing that popped into her head.

"I'm trying out for the Quidditch team," she deadpanned bitterly. Al looked ecstatic for a moment but then he realized that Rose did not sound happy about the situation at all.

"So you've gone all ice queen on me because of Quidditch? I thought you loved the sport Red." Rose turned to him, a look of anger on her face.

"First off, I am _not_ an ice queen, second; it has nothing to do with Quidditch and third; don't ever call me Red, you know I hate that name!" She shouted at him. _What's got her knickers in a twist?_ Al wondered, but one look at her outraged face told him that it was best not to ask.

After giving herself a minute or two to calm down, Rose reached into her bag and pulled out a chocolate frog. She handed it to Albus.

"I shouldn't have snapped at you, sorry. It's just-I'm just….it's been a long day," she concluded lamely. Al nodded at her then happily bit into the chocolate frog.

"Who'd you get?" Rose asked. "Anyone new?"

"Nah, I got your dad, again. Do you want it?" Rose smiled at him and shook her head. When she was a little girl, she had collected every chocolate frog card that she got that had her parents' names on them.

"I'm okay, thanks."

"Any time, Rose." The two cousins strolled along the path in silence for a while.

"So," Al began. "It seems like you've become very friendly with Lily. Care to explain?" Rose let out a breath. How many times was she going to have to tell this story?

"She's really not that bad, you know. She lent me a shirt when mine got ruined."

"And that's really a testament to her supposed 'kindness' isn't it? Sorry Rose, but I just don't trust her."

"Albus Severus Potter, she's your sister, can't you just try and get along?" Al chuckled at Rose's sudden defensive nature towards his sister, but he saw that he was really starting to irk Rose, so he decided not to point out the hypocrisy.

"Hey Al, what does Scorpius see in Tiffany?" Al looked at her like she had just sprouted a third eye.

"Rose…are you serious? It's not like he doesn't mention this fifty times a day! That bloke is totally obsessed and he tells us about it every single day and you are asking me what he likes about her?"

"Yes," she said simply. "I mean besides her looks because it's obvious enough that she's gorgeous, but has he ever mentioned what he likes about her personality?"

"Uh huh. He thinks she's sweet, nice, funny, smart, etcetera, etcetera. Do I really need to continue Rose?"

"But those are just mindless adjectives used to describe anyone viewed as 'perfect'. And she's not terribly sweet or funny or smart!" Rose felt her cheeks grow very hot as Al stared at her with concern.

"Rose, I thought that you and Tiffany were friends."

"Only for this stupid plan of getting those two idiots together." Rose sulked, venom seeping into her voice.

"You'll see Al, she's not good enough for him. She's just going to hurt him." Al looked like he was about to interrupt, but Rose beat him to it. "Sure, you say that Scorp's tough and couldn't get hurt by a girl, but he's been in lo-crazy about her for years and she doesn't feel the same way. It's just a game for her and she's going to end up breaking his heart. We have to stop it!" Al took a step away from her.

"Rose, you're not being fair. Tiffany likes Scorp, she's not some kind of crazy bitch who hurts people for fun. I don't know what's up with you today, but I think you really need some sleep or something. Come on, I'm taking you back to Ravenclaw Tower." Rose exhaled, the roaring…jealousy was it? (nah, it couldn't be) dying down somewhat. What was up with her? She wasn't usually the type to pick fights with her friends, in fact, she was generally very slow to anger. This quick temper that she had recently developed was not doing her favors. She allowed Al to lead her back to Ravenclaw Tower. Once they arrived, Al stood at the door while it asked Rose her question.

"There is an ancient tale that goes like this. There once was a man with two wives; an older wife and a younger one. When the man died, everything would pass to his only son by the young wife. Unfortunately, the man died before his son was old enough to inherit and the two wives fought over who got custody of the boy and therefore all that the man had owned. They brought their case before the king who decreed that each woman grab a hand and pull and that the strongest one would win the child. They pulled and the boy cried out in pain. Instantly, the younger woman let go of the child's hand. 'Ah hah, you, youngest wife will keep the boy.' If she was not the strongest, how did she win?"

Rose had heard this tale before in a folklore book that she had borrowed from her mother, so it wasn't as much of a test as it could have been.

"Easy," she answered. "The younger wife's love was much stronger. So strong in fact that she would rather give up the boy than see him hurt."

"Excellent work, Miss Weasley," the door complimented. She gave Al a wave, but he stopped her before she could enter the common room.

"It's a good story, Rose. Do you know why I like it so much? I find that it's quite relatable to one's own life, don't you?" It was a very profound thing for Al to say, and Rose knew that he was very serious about this.

"I don't know what you mean, Al."

"Yes you do, Rose. Do you really want to hurt Scorp by not letting him be with Tiffany? Not that you're like the old wife or anything, but…"

"But what, Al?"

"You're jealous of Scorpius neglecting you for Tiffany," he whispered quietly. "Maybe you're jealous for another reason too. But hey, what do I know?" Al said, dropping his voice even lower. Rose froze. Could everyone tell that she liked Scorpius? _No, you don't like him. He's just your friend. There's nothing more than that. He's just your very attractive, male best friend. Right. _

"Goodnight, Al."

"Rose," he said, reproachfully. "Think about what I said, yeah?" Rose gave one grudging nod before swinging the door shut behind her. She raced up to her dorm room to calm down. Rose thanked her lucky stars that Ash and Clary were still in Hogsmeade. So many people thought that she liked Scorpius; Clary, Lily, Al. And lately, Rose knew that there was definitely _something_ different about her feelings toward Scorpius. It bugged her when he wasn't around, something tugged at her stomach when he sat next to Tiffany, she was starting to notice the way his platinum hair fell in a perfect mess. These were not things that just a friend would feel and Rose realized, that it sort of felt like the time when she was dating Jack.

_Oh my Merlin. They were all right. I actually like Scorpius Malfoy. _At first Rose felt giddy for admitting it to herself, but then reality sunk back in. _And what exactly am I going to do about it? With Tiffany in the way there's no way that he's going to pay attention to me. _Rose sat motionlessly on her bed, pondering a solution to her new dilemma. Should she be like the young wife from the riddle and do the right thing or be the older wife? But this wasn't a riddle. This was real life, and unlike the riddle, Tiffany wasn't _right_ for Scorp. Right?

**Once again, so sorry for not updating for a long time. Please, please, please review!**


	6. An Ugly Twist

**Wow, I am a horrible person. I am so sorry that I haven't updated in about a month. I really have no excuse which makes me so terrible. Oh, and I'm also sorry if Rose came off as a bitch in the last chapter, but I didn't want her to be like some perfect Mary Sue and who hasn't freaked out and gotten all jealous at one point or another. Anyway, onto the story. **

Rose woke up early the morning of Ravenclaw's Quidditch try-outs. She wasn't nervous, in fact, she was actually a little excited. She really did love Quidditch and maybe it was about time for her to try out. And besides she had said she would, and Rose was a girl of her word. Clary, Ashley, Lily, Al and Scorp were all going to be there watching. Clary and Ashley were so excited that Rose was joining the Quidditch team, both girls were fans, but not players. Rose pulled on her Ravenclaw Quidditch robes and walked down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Rose you're going to do so well! I just know that you're going to get on the team!" Ashley told Rose excitedly. Clary smiled and wished Rose good luck. Lily also joined the Ravenclaw table for breakfast.

"I can't believe you're actually doing it. Good for you, Rose," Lily said. Al was ecstatic and went on and on about how great it was that Rose was finally joining.

"But don't go thinking that you can beat Slytherin. Because you're not that good," Al said seriously. Rose smirked in a very Scorpius like manner.

"Wow, thanks for the encouragement, Al."

"That's what we're here for," Scorpius said from behind her. Rose turned around and saw her blonde best friend.

"Hey Scorpius, thanks for convincing me to try out. Oh, and don't forget about that new Nimbus X model that you're getting me for Christmas!" Rose reminded him, beaming. Scorpius smiled back at her antics.

"Yeah, maybe the amazing quality of the broom will distract the rest of the school from your horrible flying."

"Shut up, Scorp. You know that I'm an amazing flyer. After all, during the summers I can get the Quaffle past you no problem."

"You keep telling yourself that, Rose. Anyway, I just wanted to wish you good luck. We'll be cheering you on during try outs." Scorpius told her before he walked back to the Slytherin table for a quick breakfast.

"Thanks Scorp, but I don't need luck," She called out teasingly. He smirked at her.

"Of course not, you're Rose Weasley." Was his teasing rejoinder.

…

Rose walked onto the Quidditch pitch, broomstick in hand. She was almost tingling with anticipation now. She loved flying and now wondered why she had never tried out for the team before! Sure, she had her reasons, but they didn't seem very valid any more.

Steve Grayson, a blonde seventh year and the Ravenclaw team captain flew into the air. He was, according to Al, the only player on the Ravenclaw team that was actually decent. This was probably true. Helen Summers had been the Ravenclaw captain for the past three years, but she had graduated. Unfortunately, she gave all the spots to her friends regardless of their skill. Steve, Rose hoped, would change things up.

"Right, hello everyone, my name's Steve and I'm the Ravenclaw captain for this year. I'm going to start off by dividing you up into groups based on positions, then I'll have you complete a lap or two around the course, we'll run a few drills and then I'll make up some teams and we'll have a few matches. So, keepers over here, chasers right behind the keepers, seekers stand to their left and beaters to the right. Okay, so get started on those laps."

The laps were definitely a good idea, a few first and second years with no talent at all had tried out. Steve sent them away as kindly as possible. During the drills, Rose scanned the chasers for any competition. Since Steve himself was a chaser, there were only two spots available and Rose desperately wanted one of those spots for herself. Besides herself and Steve, there were five other potential chasers. Besides a tiny, but talented fifth year named Hank, the rest were all seventh years. Rose knew that she could out play Rebecca and Chloe, Hank she could also probably beat, but Jolene and Ryan were a bit more serious competition. Ryan had incredible strength and aim that alone was probably enough to get him onto the team, but he was utterly lacking in any type of strategy, which was something that Steve was all about. Jolene was Ryan's opposite; quick and agile, she was probably the trickiest player on the pitch. However, her tosses lacked strength and that was her major weakness. Rose was the in between, she was strong, but could not compete with Ryan, and she had strategy, but Jolene was much better. Finally, Scott decided that he was done with his drills. Only two seekers remained. A fourth year boy and a fifth year girl by the names of Sean Waylon and Gracie Benton. Rose, Jolene and Ryan were the only remaining chasers, as Rose had suspected. Scott had apparently already chosen his beaters, for only two remained on the pitch. Trevor de Luca and Kyle Barkley, two of Steve's best friends. Rose prayed that they were actually good and not just on the team because of their friendship with Steve. They did look the part though, both had to be around six feet tall and had very defined muscles that were visible through their Quidditch gear. Two seventh years; Emma Yale and Mickey Frank were also left as keepers. Rose knew that Mickey stood no chance against Emma, for not only was Emma a spectacular keeper, she was also Steve's girlfriend and there was no way that he would kick her off the team.

"Okay, first I just wanted to say congratulations to everyone for making it this far. That alone attests to your talent. So I'm going to split you all up into two teams. Since we don't have enough people for a complete team, each team will have a keeper, one beater, two chasers and a seeker. The first team will consist of Gracie Benton as seeker, Trevor de Luca as beater, Emma as keeper and Ryan and Jolene as chasers. The rest are with me, you know your positions.

The match began, and after a good half hour of play Rose felt that she was doing very well. Another thing that she had noticed was that Kyle and Trevor really were spectacular beaters. Rose almost found herself wishing they weren't quite so good because Bludgers were flying left and right and it was hard to concentrate on the Quaffle. Rose flew towards Jolene as fast as she could, trying to catch up with her in order to steal the Quaffle. Rose saw her opportunity. Jolene had just thrown the red ball in Ryan's direction, but with a burst of speed, Rose intercepted the pass and raced towards the hoops. While she was zooming towards the hoops, a Bludger, courtesy of Trevor nearly took off her head, but she continued flying, trying to plan out a strategy to get the Quaffle through the hoop that Emma was guarding. Emma wasn't so easy to fool though, but Rose had an idea. She flew directly towards the left hoop, making it appear obvious that she was going for the left. Emma picked up on this, believing that Rose was about to fake right, she positioned her broom towards the right hoop. But instead of faking, Rose through the ball with all her might into the left hoop. Surprised, Emma did not have enough time to catch the ball and Rose scored yet another point for her team.

"Nice work. It's not easy to get passed Emma," Steve commended. Rose felt ecstatic and the sensation was only increased when she saw her friends and cousins cheering her on in the stands. Rose gave them a quick wave before she turned back to the game. The competitive play continued for a few more minutes until the little fourth year by the name of Sean Waylon rocketed down from the sky, hurtling after the snitch. Rose stared in shock. Sean flew faster than anyone Rose had ever seen. He zipped passed the Bludgers and within a few seconds he had caught the snitch. Rose, along with the rest of the team was absolutely flabbergasted, that kid could probably out fly Al.

Steve flew down from the sky and dismounted next to Sean and patted the fourth year on the back.

"So you all played extremely well today, and it's going to be a very difficult decision as to who is joining the team. So, I'll have the list posted in the Ravenclaw common room after dinner tonight, so be sure to look for it." And with that the potential Ravenclaw team members were all dismissed. Just as Rose was heading up to the stands to meet up with her friends, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Rose turned around and saw a pale, auburn haired girl with dark green eyes behind her; Jolene (**AN: yes that was inspired by the song Jolene by Dolly Parton if anyone knows it)**.

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that you did really well today. I think that you definitely have your spot on the team already," Jolene said, smiling at Rose. Rose blinked back in surprise. Jolene had a reputation for being… a little less than friendly, but here she was, congratulating Rose on a game well played.

"Thanks, Jolene, you did really well too," Rose replied warmly. Jolene grinned.

"I know. I hope we both make the team. See you later, Rose." Rose smiled at the pretty girl and waved after her. Then she went off to find her friends.

"You did so well, Rose!" Ashley cheered, hugging her friend.

"Yeah Rose, I think I am going to end up buying you that Nimbus for Christmas. Did Grayson tell you when the list was going to be posted?" Scorpius asked her.

"Yeah, he's posting the list right after dinner. I'm so nervous though that I don't think I'm going to be able to eat any dinner, let alone lunch!" Scorpius laughed at that and pulled her into a congratulatory hug. Rose blushed and hugged her friend back. Suddenly, she felt slightly self-conscious, she probably smelled awful after all the Quidditch that she had played. She quickly excused herself and made her way to the prefect's bathroom, it was much nicer than the one in her own dorm.

Rose was walking down the hallway towards the bathroom when she heard hushed voices. Rose began turning left, towards the bathroom, but her curiosity made her pivot around and she quietly made her way towards the right. She could tell that the voices were coming from an unused classroom a few doors down, and she could also make out that it was at least two girls, but apart from that she had no idea. Before she got any closer, Rose stopped. Rose's mother had always told Rose that eavesdropping was wrong, but Rose found that she could not resist the temptation. She stood right outside the cracked door and listened intently. Suddenly, Rose recognized the voices. Katherine Goode, Tiffany Sinclair and Charlotte Penhallow were whispering to each other in hushed tones.

"Just get over yourself, Tiffany. You aren't dating him anymore so what's the big deal if I date Chris?" Katherine demanded, her voice was not quite a whisper anymore.

"I don't have a problem with it at all Kathy, I'm just concerned that you're going after my sloppy seconds. I didn't know that you were that type of girl." Tiffany responded snootily.

"Girls, just drop it. It's not really a big deal. Besides, you have Scorpius now, right Tiffany?" Before Tiffany could reply, Katherine cut in.

"Oh yeah, that's another problem. I can't believe that you're dating that slimy Slytherin. What would your parents think if you ever brought him home. They've told you the war stories a thousand times and you're still mixing with Death Eater scum?" Tiffany responded in a much quieter voice, one that was- to Rose's utter disgust- mixed with shame.

"Don't-don't say stuff like that Kathy, he's not that bad, and besides, it was a long time ago."

"He's not good enough anyway, and what happen to your 'I only date Gryffindors' policy? Have all your morals just flown out the window?" Katherine was yelling at Tiffany now and Tiffany's reply was barely loud enough for Rose to make out.

"Be quiet, Kathy."

"And if you're berating me for accepting 'sloppy seconds' than you are a hypocrite! That Malfoy jerk has been with practically every girl in Hogwarts. By dating him you're practically labeling yourself as a slut! And Charlotte and I wouldn't want to be friends with such a despicable person, would we Charlotte?" Despite Charlotte's kind nature, she had grown up in a family similar to Tiffany's where the war villains were looked upon as dirt.

"I'm, I'm really sorry, Tiff," was Charlotte's muffled reply. Rose, who was seething with fury by now, allowed herself a brief glance in the room. Katherine was fuming, her hands on her hips, looking down at Tiffany who looked like she was about to cry. And even though Rose didn't want Scorpius with Tiffany, Rose hoped that the girl wouldn't succumb to her horrible friends.

"Bu-but, you guys…please," Tiffany whispered. Katherine rolled her eyes.

"Just dump the Death Eater and everything can go back to the way it was. Wouldn't that be best?" Katherine asked maliciously. Tiffany looked up at her friends.

Rose was faced with a severe internal dilemma in those moments before Tiffany answered. On one hand, Rose would like it if Tiffany and Scorp stopped seeing each other, but not like this. Tiffany was not supposed to hurt her friend and if Tiffany dumped Scorpius because of this, Rose would never to be able to forgive the beautiful Gryffindor. Rose held her breath as Tiffany took a deep breath before answering Katherine's question.

"Okay…you're right. I'll tell him that I don't want to see him anymore and everything will go back to normal, but Kathy…please don't mention this to my parents, if they find out, they'll never forgive me." Katherine grinned.

"Of course, Tiffany, so break it off tomorrow, alright? Do it after dinner." Tiffany nodded her head while Charlotte and Katherine walked out. Rose quickly hid behind a nearby suit of armor.

Rose could not believe how those three girls could each be so, so awful! Even Charlotte, who Rose had always thought well of was just as malevolent as Katherine. Rose stepped out from her hiding place as soon as the two Gryffindors had left. Rose walked past the door and made her way back to the prefect's bathroom, she needed some time to cool off and think about what in the world she was going to do. As she past the door she heard Tiffany gasp.

"Rose?" Tiffany called out quietly. Rose turned around and stared at Tiffany's puffy green eyes.

"What?" Rose snapped.

"How-how much did you hear?" Tiffany asked, horrified. Rose glared at the girl.

"Enough." Tiffany looked scared, but she opened her mouth one more time to speak.

"I'm sorry… can you not mention this to anyone?" Rose gaped at the girl in revulsion. She couldn't even respond to this.

"Please?" Tiffany pleaded, but before she could say another word, Rose ran past the room, past the bathroom until she made it back to Ravenclaw Tower.

When she finally arrived she was panting. She had never run that fast in her life, but she couldn't bear to stay there for another second. Rose couldn't believe that someone could be such a bitch! All three of them were! But what was she supposed to do about it? She couldn't tell Scorp, that would kill him. And as much as she liked Lily now, Lily was too much of a gossip. Her friends were also out of the question for the same reason that Lily was. And Al…Al wouldn't believe her after she had freaked out on him last week. He'd think that she was just jealous. Rose flopped down onto the bed in frustration, pondering over any alternatives in her mind. She knew that she had to tell someone, but no one fit the bill. Eventually, Rose fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of the events that she had witnessed today.

"Rose…Rose, wake up! The Quidditch list is posted!" Clary said and Rose woke up with a yell. "Don't be scarred, silly, it's just me. Now come on, the list is up. Don't you want to see if you made the team?" Clary continued. Rose blinked a few times in confusion before realization suddenly dawned on her. She pushed the memories of today out of her mind and rushed down to see the list.

_Ravenclaw Quidditch Team:_

_Captain Steve Grayson- Chaser_

_Emma Yale- Keeper_

_Trevor de Luca- Beater_

_Sean Waylon- Seeker_

_Kyle Barkley- Beater_

_Jolene Anderson- Chaser_

_Rose Weasley-Chaser_

_Congratulations to all of you. Practice will begin tomorrow at four o'clock. See you all there. _

Rose was unable to contain her excitement, she screamed in excitement and hugged Ashley and Clary.

"I'm so happy! I made the team!" Rose called out.

"Nice job, Rose," Jolene, who had recently checked the list too, told her. "See you at practice."

"Thanks Jolene, see you then." Rose called after the girl.

"Come on Rose, let's celebrate. There's probably still some time to catch some dinner and I know that Al, Lily and Scorpius are anxiously awaiting the good news!" Ashley said before dragging Rose out of the common room. But the only thing that was on Rose's mind now was what she was going to do about Scorpius. Rose sighed before settling on a conclusion. _I have to tell Al. _

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I figured I should add some drama since it's been such a long time. I hate Tiffany with a passion right now! But it's kind of necessary for the plot. Tell me what you think and review! : )**


End file.
